The pronouns he, him, she, her, they and them carry a significant value for certain individuals in the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning and/or queer) community that some cisgender people, individuals who identify with their biological gender, may not be well informed about.
As a way to assure that transgender people in the LGBTQ community are validated and accounted for as much as anyone else who is cisgender, the need to understand and refer to a transgender woman or man according to their identified gender is quite simple but extremely momentous for these individuals to feel included in society.
Similar to hearing the pronunciation of a difficult name and being expected to follow through with giving an honest effort in saying that name correctly, it is just as essential to use the corresponding pronouns that someone identifies with when they introduce themselves as a man or woman.
By upholding both of these matters in a respectful and diligent manner, the majority of cisgender people can help alleviate the confusion surrounding the reason why it’s necessary to be aware of this repetitive problem.
Whether it be in the classroom, the workplace, in introductions to friendships and wherever else transgender individuals wish to participate or be at, the adjustment to referencing their preferred genders should never be disregarded or ignored because of the irregularity in encountering this specific group in the LGBTQ community.
By enforcing these social standards for cisgender people to be aware of, the pronoun issue can be addressed as common courtesy for everyone to care about in a form of self identification in America.
In this day and age, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, religion and so on, the point to uphold in social interactions is the fact that misgendering in the LGBTQ community is something that needs to be at the forefront of every individual’s mentality.
If there is no introduction to what a transgender individual would like to be referred by, then the common courtesy is to use the pronouns they and them to assure that regardless of which gender is correct, there is still an understanding to create a comfortable environment where everyone is welcome to be whomever they want to be, no matter what.
That’s what it should mean to live in a land where there is so much diversity and intersectionality in who or what a person can freely become and identify as in the safety of any community.